Races & Places with azsungoddessRunning & Racing around the country

"Disclaimer: I received an Eat Smart Precision GETFITDigital Precision BodyFat Scale to review in exchange for an honest review.

I have had my current bathroom scale for somewhere around 10 years. Over the years, the display was getting harder to read, and the body fat % reader fluctuated wildly. I never really felt like I could trust the bodyfat portion of the scale readings.

I am giving the new sleek Precision GETFIT Digital Bodyfat Scale from Eat Smart a try. I have reviewed some of their other scales and have been so impressed with the precision of the readings. I knew I would be getting a quality product.

Your weight pops up first, then some o's scroll across the screen while it calculates your bodyfat percentage. Then the percentage pops up. Next it scrolls through what percentage muscle you have, bone, water, etc. Pretty cool!

I was a little nervous that it would be difficult to set up my profile in the scale. It’s just simple arrowing up and down to get to your gender, height, etc. It also claimed to recognize individuals. My previous scale you had to manually select which profile was yours before stepping on. I decided to get my husband to set up a profile just to see if it could tell the difference between us automatically. Took just a few minutes to set up. He’s never measured his body fat before, so it was enlightening for him! This is my profile I set up below: 5'5" and 49 years old female.

Even with 2 profiles stored in the scale, it identified that it was a 5' 5" female right away and not the 6'3" male!

Here are the features of this scale:

Measuring Functions: Not just Weight, % Body Fat, but also % Total Body Water, % Muscle Mass and Bone Mass!

One safety note – it is not intended for anyone who has a pacemaker. My son actually has a defibrillator implanted, so I had to tell him he could not use this scale, as a precaution.

I tried it right away and found it to be extremely accurate. I love that it doesn’t just show pounds or half pounds – it shows your weight in .2 increments! So every little bit of your progress made shows up!

"Disclaimer: I received a pair of Under Armor HOVR Sonic shoes as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

Ever since knee surgery I have been on a quest for cushiony running shoes. I heard there was some cool technology behind the Under Armor HOVR Sonic shoes that were just being released to market. I had to see for myself!

I received these bright beauties just before Christmas. They came with instructions on how to connect your shoes to the Map My Run app. It turned out to be a piece of cake.

1st I had to download the map my run app. Then it was just a matter of setting the shoes on the ground near my phone and making sure Bluetooth was on, so that they were calibrated and connected. Then I was off and running!

My first impression was that the shoes were very light, but not quite as cushiony as I had hoped. Here’s a pic from my first run.

My phone at the time had barely any open space on it. So unfortunately using the map my run app drained my battery after just 2 miles. That was a bummer.

Like several other Under Armour shoe models, there is a chip inside that syncs with map my run. It can actually keep track of the mileage you put on your shoes cumulatively! No more guessing. Now that’s cool!!!

I also put the shoes through an intense muy thai cardio kickboxing class, followed by a run. That day the app didn’t drain my battery at all.

They advertise that you can run in the shoes without your phone and your stats will still be tracked (as long as you are under an 11 minute mile). I was not successful in getting it to sync on my phone, but I know that some of the other BibRave Pros were able to get it to work. Also, if you stop at any point during your run, it will show up as a separate run.

Summary of product benefits (from uarunning.com):

DIGITALLY CONNECTED: (UA.com & Brand House Exclusive!) UA’s Record Sensor™ technology tracks, analyzes & stores virtually every running metric so you know exactly what you need to do to get better

High-abrasion rubber placed under the heel to help absorb ground contact

Weight: 8oz/225g

I will continue to wear these shoes on shorter runs, to save the wear and tear on my more cushiony shoes for longer runs. I enjoyed how light and airy they are (the whole front of the shoe is mesh). The shoes retail for $100 and come in 3 colors for women. I love this bright color, it got a lot of attention while I was out running!

Wow, where do I start? I’m lucky to have a huge Ragnar race right in my backyard. I’m also grateful that I fell into a great team by chance 2 years ago and have been able to stick with them ever since.

Even though I am NOT a fan of Van 2 timing, I agreed/offered to be in van 2 for this race so that I could be with 2 of my girlfriends and 2 of my favorite Ragnarians. I also had a cool Ragnar veteran Bob on the team. It turned out to be just the right mix!

Two of my friends from a women’s running club joined the fun, one of whom has never run a Ragnar before. She was such a good sport, nothing freaked her out at all.

Denise, our lovely Ragnar virgin!

I’ve never been in the 2nd van for Ragnar del sol before. It felt so weird to have the morning to ourselves. We loaded up the van and went to breakfast to get to know each other better. Then we drove to Tonopah, the first major exchange. It was already quite hot by the time we rolled in, in the 70’s. We had to wait over an hour for the first van to finish up. We took some pics and waited for our turn. I started around 2:30pm for a 4.6 mile run. It started through a subdivision then ended up along a highway. I ended up getting a fantastic burst of energy in the last 2 miles and enjoyed it.

Ready for my first leg

While we waited for the next runner, we ended up talking to the legendary Ernie Andrus. He’s 94 years young and still does Ragnar Relays! His mind is as sharp as a tack and he regaled us with stories from WW2. He’s awesome.

Meeting the legendary Ernie!!!

Our last runner had the “Ragnar leg” which was 11 miles long. We planned on grabbing dinner when she finished, then heading to a hotel for a few hours. Yes, a real hotel! We ended up eating burgers and fries at like 10pm and headed straight to bed.

2 hours later, it was time to get up again. Ugh! Luckily, my night run was super short, just 2.7 miles. I headed out with my knuckle lights and hit the streets around 2:30am. It was a totally uninspiring area near storage units with big dogs inside the fences. I had to cross a few major roads, so I lost a little time at stoplights. The weather was really nice, mid 50’s.

We finished that round and were back in our hotel room (again) by 6am! Really nice to be able to enjoy that twice. Got another 2.5 hours of sleep, a quick shower, and free hotel breakfast & coffee!The next day was cooler, with some cloud cover thank goodness. My longest run (6.5 miles) would be around 12:30pm. It had a gradual descent in the beginning, which was nice. It was along a busy road for a very long time and I almost got hit by a car getting off the freeway. Pay attention, people!! I then got to weave through north Scottsdale which was interesting. Found some extra energy during this leg which was awesome too.

Denise handing off to me for my final leg

We finally finished around 4:40pm. Our final runner had an emotional finish running through the neighborhood she grew up in, and was battling the heat and fatigue. She had us crying while she cried as she finished and we all ran in together. What a great experience!

Tricia leading the charge across the finish line!

At some point during our last legs, our van started talking about doing chest bumps at the handoff. I don’t think I’ve chestbumped anyone ever, but I thought it was pretty funny. It remained a common theme til the finish, and a new team theme for the future. Here are the last 4 handoffs in sequential order.

Van 1 left almost immediately after getting the medals, since they had been waiting around all day for us. Luckily our rockstar van 2 was up for a few beers and celebrating for just a little bit. We vowed to do it again together next year, and possibly even the trail Ragnar here in AZ this November. Time will tell!

Overall, I’m so glad I was able to run Ragnar again - grateful for my knee cooperating, grateful for everyone getting along and no injuries! Cheers to another great event!

One final shout out to our van MVP Tricia! She agreed to the Ragnar leg, giving her a total of 20.9 miles. Way to go, girl!

And one last reminder to myself not to limit myself - to keep trying new things. I swore I would NEVER run a Ragnar, and here I am 9 Ragnars later, hopelessly addicted. I love meeting new people and having these incredible experiences. This year, each medal had a cool saying on the back that captures the essence of the Ragnar journey.

"Disclaimer: I received a set of Bibboards as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

I run a lot of races, and I have a lot of safety pins. When it comes to racing, I inevitably poke myself with the safety pins, or pin it on lopsided. The worst part is when I’m wearing something cute for the very first time, and I hold my breath while I have to begrudgingly poke 4 holes in it to wear my race bib. Ugh!

I’ve been interested in alternatives for awhile, but hadn’t gotten around to trying anything yet. Enter BibBoards. They are snap on bib holders that won’t ruin your clothes!!!!!!!!!

My first opportunity to really try them out was at the Sedona Marathon. I wasn’t quite sure of the best way to apply them, but I tried it with me wearing the shirt. It was so easy to push it through the hole, line it up on the back of my shirt and snap it into place. I still ended up slightly lopsided, but it stayed 100% in place for the entire 2 plus hour race. Pretty easy to pull back off afterwards too. Absolutely no damage to the shirt.

The next time I tried out the BibBoards was for Ragnar del Sol. That means using the bib 3 times on 3 different outfits. On and off 3 times, in daylight and darkness. This would be a good test!

It was very simple to snap them off and on. Sometimes it feels a bit tricky grabbing the back of it to pull it off. I feel like I'm going to break it, but they did stay intact! I still stink at pinning them on myself, and really need to try snapping them on the shirt while its laid out in front of me.

Here they are on all 3 outfits:

CHOICES!!!!!There are many BibBoard designs to choose from – from emojis to beer and wine themed options. I chose “Will Run for Beer” because anyone who knows me knows that I enjoy my craft beer, especially post-race! You can even CUSTOMIZE your own with a logo or photo! How cool is that. BibBoards are sold in sets of 4 and retail for $12.99, but right now you can save 20% with code #Bibchat!

When you’re done, simply snap them back onto the cardboard holder (or throw them in a baggie) until your next race. Easy peasy! I have also seen people wear them in other ways, for motivational purposes. Like on their hat, sleeve etc. Kind of a cool idea.

Check these out and let me know what you think! I bet you won't miss safety pins!

"Disclaimer: I received a complimentary race entry for the Sedona Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!"

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…If the Sedona Marathon Event isn’t on your bucket list, it should be.

I have attempted to run the half before, but had to drop down to the 10k the last two years due to injuries. This was my chance! I knew it would be a challenge – and I knew what the first 3.1 miles of the course was like already.

I was happy that my husband was totally on board to make a weekend out of this again. So cool. It’s pretty rare that I get my family to join me at races these days.

Packet pickup was in a tent at the Posse Fairgrounds this year. It’s a tiny expo, but it seemed more spacious and inviting this year than in the past. There were a lot of tempting shirts and skirts to buy. I had to drag myself out of there. I was in and out pretty quickly.

We headed straight from pickup to dinner to carb load. Seriously one of the best things about this race (other than the scenery) is the late start time. My race started at 9:10. I could take my leisurely time. Although the race offered free shuttle service, my hotel was close enough for me to walk. Yay!

The full marathon started at 9AM, with each race starting every 10 minutes after that. I had plans to meet two other BibRave Pros doing the race. We were all doing different distances, which was kind of cool. I couldn’t find Joshua, but found Barb right away. Also ran into other local friends doing the race. I unfortunately left my headphones in my hotel room but decided to stay put and hang at the start instead of walking back for them and stressing myself out.

The weather was fantastic. It was 43 when I was walking from the hotel and around 60-62 when I finished. I have a tendency to overdress because I hate to be cold. I wore my windbreaker jacket and gloves on the way there, but them put it in gear check. I wore a long sleeve tech shirt, but in hindsight I should have gone sleeveless. Within 3 miles I was too warm. I need to work on dialing it back.

This is NOT a big race (less than 1000 people run the half), but with the 4 races combined on this narrow road,, the start area is quite congested. They created a chute that led to the start area, and only the next group of runners queing up was allowed in. There were a number of vendors, from food to clothing, and massages available.

The course is full of rolling hills. One of the worst ones is at the 10k turnaround. There were a ton of aid stations out there with water and electrolytes. I went into it hoping for 215 or less but knowing how hilly it was, I figured it would probably take longer. I enjoyed the downhill sections the most, but obviously there were plenty of uphill sections too. I walked many uphill sections when I felt like I couldn’t push anymore. I will say this: there is not one single step of this race that does not have a killer view.

I finished the first 10k in 1:12, and my finish time was 2:28. I’m pretty sure that was my highest half marathon finish time ever, or at least close. Even so, that time was in the top 25% of my age group!

Shoutout to Athlinks - I went to Athlinks.com to claim my new results . My Athlinks profile stores results from all my past races, and I can even find friends who might be running future races that . I want to do. Check out results on Athlinks here and follow me so we can be friends (or maybe even rivals!) on Athlinks.

The medal is part of a series where each year is a piece of a 4 year pie. Every year I continue to be disappointed that everyone still gets the same exact medal and ribbon, no matter which distance they ran. This is one of my pet peeves and I am sincerely hoping they will consider changing for future races. Even a customized ribbon would make it more unique and special to the runner.

I had seen an email advertising their beer garden featuring some fantastic local beers. My husband & I really enjoy craft beers so we kept that in mind as a possibility for after the race. I’ve never stuck around after my 10k finishes in the past. But it was hot (and almost noon!) by the time I finished and walked up the hill, so we stuck around and enjoyed some wonderfully cold brews and enjoyed our red rock views! They had a limited number of tables to sit/stand with your drinks, but it was a nice touch! My son even enjoyed a snack from the food trucks.

On the walk back to the hotel, we had to cross the course around the mile 25.5 mark of the full marathon. I see a bright orange BibRave shirt coming towards me and I’m like “Hey that must be Joshua!”. He was struggling (that last section is unfortunately uphill) – but he actually STOPPED so I could take a photo with him. Impressive! I’m sure he was just anxious to be done.

We enjoyed an afternoon that included some amazing food, more craft brews, and capped it off with sunset hike. We love Sedona and I plan to come back again next year. I am determined to get my time down…and compete in a brand new age group!